FLAWED
by attesa di amore
Summary: While Wally West is trying to be KidFlash and hold a job at the same time with the constant worry about paying his parents bills, paranoia has seeped through the young justice walls as a masked murderer is leaving dead bodies on the teenagers doorsteps. But as Wally see's a dead man hanging on his wall, he also see's the killer face to face. Can he handle being the murderer's flaw?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fan fiction, I read them all the time, so I decided to start writing them ;)**

**If you think I suck, tell me why; reviews are wanted!**

**Since this is my first, I'm not sure of the updating schedule yet, but I'll establish it soon after these first few chapters.**

**I'd like this to be a long story, so please comment and tell me what you guys think would be cool or interesting.**

**(characters belong to the creator and producers of Young Justice)**

** ~LILAC~**

Green eyes fluttered open, iris's fixating, the emerald fear scanning the floor. It was stained with oil splotches and gasoline rivers, in which he felt pouring into his red sun-kissed hair. He turned his head sideways, grunting in pain as lightning seemed to strike his head at the slightest movement, and saw a pick-up truck. The Ford 1980 he so possessed and obsessed over. His eyes searched the other side of the garage, the gasoline, to his unimaginable relief, came tumbling out of a fallen red container; harmless unless lit. The oil smudged on his arms came from the floor. He was lying on a desert of engine oil. Then the Crimson coloring came tumbling down his face as he pushed his right arm out and up, supporting himself and heaving his lean teenage body up on all fours. The crimson came first in droplets, starting a match of fear like the cigarettes in his white rolled up sleeve on his left shoulder, but as soon as he shifted to his knees-hitting something hard above him, it came rushing down like a waterfall as he screamed. A bucket, now empty, rolled on the table above him. Blood, glory and all, painted his back and his hair. A wet sob burst out of the 16 year olds lips. His hands shook, to horrified to move. In the moment, Wally West was very confused, but as he looked up and saw the dead body hanging from the bike racks of his dad's garage; he knew what had happened.

There was no waiting, no time to stare at the dead victim. Wally pushed up with his sore legs, almost slipping in the blood and gasoline as he rushed to the front of the garage by the closed doors. He bent down, grasping the handle and flung the wooden garage door open. The first instinct was to check for witnesses, to see if any little kid with a doll was standing outside his house with deadly eyes. There was no one, Central City was as if in the middle of a apocalypse. He jumped into his Ford, not bothering to close the garage door as he flung out of the driveway onto the black road. At times like this, Wally was grateful that his parents had moved the Central City when he was young instead of staying in Blue Valley. This gave him easy access to his Uncle Barry's and Aunt Iris' house. His parents' oblivion to his powers and his job as Kid Flash forced him to buy a car, which he learned to fall for, and only had it to drive to school and to work. But, now during summer, he had to drive his truck to Barry's house, leave it there in the one car garage as his Aunt and Uncle parked their cars outside their town house, and run to Mount Justice for missions and to see the team. His parents, Rudy and Mary, thought he had an all day job at the gas station in the country where they lived before you enter the pure city. It's not a lie, he dose work there for the night shift, but he doesn't spend his day putting cars back together; he spends it running and fighting.

The tall city buildings were getting closer and closer. He cursed at the farness of his house from the Flash's. The attacks started happening a few months ago, and had started with the boy wonder; Robin. He was Dick Grayson at the time, entering his bathroom at the Gotham mansion to shower, only to see a skinned man hanging from the diamond chandelier above. Apparently he had screamed bloody murder, Bruce came running up...and, well, that's how it started. The same thing happened to Artemis at her school in Gotham in the locker room, but the thing that struck Batman's confusion was that it was a women and she had been beheaded; a different murder, a different gender. At first they thought that it was only because Robin and Batman have high, desired secret identities, but then it happened to Artemis. Then it was the thought of Gotham students, but the coincidence of being two team members was enough for the League to say that this murderer was targeting the team, the Young Justice, through the other life lived; their identity's.

Now it was Wally's turn. To see a dead man, bones broken into a disturbing runner's position, was enough, but to now be forced to flee like a coward didn't feel too good either. That was batman's rule: if you are targeted, to run.

Wally's Ford zoomed through the city, speeding passed the other town houses until he saw his Uncle's sharpen into few; the one that was a few shades redder than the others. The drive way was small, but Wally didn't care as he pulled up halfway onto the grass. He yanked the keys out, jumping out of the truck with his torn jeans still on, oil stained shirt, and as he saw in the car mirror; black oil attacking his face as well. The blood still soaked through the back of his white shirt and his now even redder hair. He slammed the door, already running. He skipped steps of the concrete stairs, tripping suddenly, with the heavy dark green door catching him. He hoped that had counted as a knock.

_The Knock a the garage door made him jump, almost screwing up his work in progress. It was his father, most likely; he didn't like when he stayed in the garage all day. "Yeah one second, Dad!" Wally yelled as his hands wrapped around tools, his face stuck in front of an old motor he's been wanting o fix up for weeks._

_"Young man? I heard you can fix up cars!"_

_Wally froze at the strangers voice. Paranoia is survival, it's a brave fear._

_"What do you want? Who are you?" Wally let go of the tools in his hand, softly placing them on the wood table. He walked slowly to his left, when turned around to face the garage door. He reached up and wrapped his tan fingers around the metal baseball bat._

_"Look, boy, my car broke down a half mile or so down. I've seen you working at the WT gas station! I figured you could get my truck running again, yeah?"_

_Wally walked towards the garage door. "No! I can't help you, I'm sorry!"_

_He won't help the man, he won't help anyone while not working at the station. Not while there's a murderer running around._

"Wally? What are you doing here this early..." Barry Allen trailed off. Wally imagined he saw the state and condition his nephew was in as Barry scanned his face. "What the hell happened?"

"It happened, he went after me. We need to get to the cave, _now_."

A quick goodbye to his wife, Barry grabbed Wally's arm and ran.

As uncle and nephew walked into the cave, Batman groaned. It was bad enough that Barry was here, but Wally wasn't supposed to be here today with the rest of the team, Monday's were his work day's at the WT station. Though, Batman found it odd that the young speedster worked so much for his age, he was grateful that there was something to keep him busy, unlike coming here all the time.

"What do you need, Flash? Kid?" he asked, not moving his masked eyes from the monitor.

"Bats, we have a problem."

Wally watched as the dark knight turned hesitantly, as if he was scared, which scared Wally even more than he already was. Then his eyes landed on him, studying the oil stains and the blood painting.

"There's another body...and a problem."

_"Come on, kid, please! I have to get to my sister's wedding!"_

_Wally peaked through to windows on the top of the garage door; the man was in a suite, a tux. He looked about mid 20's, considerably recognizable, and held innocent eyes. Wally sighed, and bent down, opening the door._

_"Show me your car."_

"What?! You were targeted?!" Batman shouted with concern. He rushed down the steps, his black cape flowing behind him majestically.

Wally bit the inside of his mouth. "But there's a problem."

"Kid this is already a prob-."

"No, you don't understand...I saw him."

_He cursed as he made his way back to house. He blamed Batman's protectiveness and Robin's fear for making him this on edge. The man was true, all Wally had to do was restart the engine and he was off to the wedding with a big thank you. Wally walked into the open garage, flinging his red tool box on the oil stained floor. The engine oil was always everywhere, and Wally always had to clean it before his mom freaked. Wally looked up from the ground and froze; hanging on the once empty bike racks was a man in a distorted position, as if running._

_And then it was in that moment when he realized he was the next target, when he opened his mouth and released a blood curling scream. _

_Wally had never screamed so loud, with so much fear. But then his voice of help was cut off, muffled by a hand._

_His hand, his hand. The hand that killed this man and broke his bones, the hand that cut off a woman's head and skinned a human being._

_Wally panicked. He shoved his elbow backwards into the attackers gut and ran. He didn't get very far; he tripped over an open red can of gasoline. He slammed to the ground as the oil painted the floor, traveling like a river. He hoped that his cigarettes wouldn't magically catch it on fire. He sifted, painfully moving himself on his back._

_He looked open, gasoline drenching his hair and dripping into his eyes, squinting. _

_T_

_he man stood above him, a black and gold, hard, masquerade mask covered his eyes and nose. In his hand, the metal baseball bat Wally had left on the wooden table by the old motor he deserted. _

_In an instant, the weapon came down towards him, offering darkness._


	2. Jagged Puzzles

**Hey guys (;**

**This is chapter 2, which will be a little longer than the first, only because my first chapters are always shorter.**

**Oh and I got my first review! So I'm excited (:**

**And I have to add, even though it sounds a little harsh, that yes the characters belong to Young Justice but the story line is mine. I only say it because I might take one of these stories and put it to use for an actual novel and just change the characters. And what I think I'm going to do with the updating is that it will be pretty random, at least now, but always within a week, unless something happens and I'm forced to push back.**

**So, review and enjoy!**

**~LILAC~**

"Well…are you okay?"

Wally looked up at his closest friend, his blue eyes hidden behind the domino mask. An excuse to trap his emotions, to hid who he doesn't want to be. Wally was well aware of the fact that the dark, secretive Boy Wonder was actually Dick Grayson; son of Bruce Wayne, head and owner of Wayne Enterprises. And Dick, in fact, was very high on the celebrity chain. Because of that, Wally's friend was the apologizer in their relationship. The; I'm sorry I can't make it, you know…celebrity stuff. Not that Wally's any better: the past year has been one challenge after the other, at 16; he's working the night shift at the WT station every week day, but Monday which is the full time shift from dawn to dusk, then on Saturday with the afternoon shift till three. Wally, though, is thankful for the summer break: not only is the stress of school on the down low, but the rush to school, then the Cave, then to make it to work for the night shifts after a mission was the most pressure he's ever felt in his superhero filled world. Sure, he's talk to Dick about this a million times; he's been the only person that he's comfortable with complaining about the dramas of a teenager, but, unfortunately, Dick's not here. Standing before him is Robin.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine." Wally forced out, along with a dimpled smirk. Honestly, guiltily, he didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, especially Robin. The day has been long: once the Flash and he had told Batman what had happened in his garage, he dragged Wally to the lower most level of the Cave through sealed doors and long stone stair cases that held nothing but interrogation rooms, surgical and extreme medical help, evidence, and holding cells. The team were told about it, what was in the "basement", but were told not to enter. Not like it was top secret, it would be waste of time to have Robin hack their way into abandoned space. The Cave was a hideout; it was hidden just for the covert team. Bringing the criminal into the hideout would be a poor choice, and rare on occasion. But it has happened. Batman had brought him, Flash, and Black Canary down there. He'd been told to strip; his clothes given to Batman to find the John Doe with the blood, and to try and find any left traces of evidence of the killer. The John Doe was found easily; a Manny John, a single man with no kids, age of 29, ran away from home at 18 and never came back, and there was nothing the police could to since he was of age, so he never finished his Senior year and never went to college, past neighbor reports from his shady apartment complex say he was a sad man. The killer, on the other hand, was a ghost. There was no data from Wally's clothes, but the police had just arrived at the crime scene when Wally had been taken to the basement so Batman said that they'd just have to wait for the evidence from the police. That caused the Flash to be sent to Wally's house at the crime scene as Barry Allen, the lead forensics scientist.

After, what seemed like a thousand lifetimes, Wally was released from the basement with a glance of caution from Batman and scanning eyes from Black Canary. The shower, where he ran to when running through the teams corridors, must have been the droplets of water in which Jesus walked on cause _damn_; Wally felt relived. Yet, even though the dried blood had been scrubbed off with the scorching hot water pouring down on him; the gasoline stench, he'd been told truthfully, couldn't come out with just water and soap; he had to get special chemicals from the Flash later to get it out. So, even out of the shower, the fumes still curled off him. The engine oil, that covered his arms and face, wouldn't come out off in the shower either; Black Canary said she would get him a heavy duty scrub once she was done weaving through evidence with Batman. So, even better, he'd walked from the team-guys-bathroom with a towel wrapped around his red and raw waste from the blood, engine oil smudges down his arms and across his face like a tiger, the stench of gasoline, and childlike bruises painting his knees. That's where he had run into the Boy Wonder.

"I heard what happened-caught Flash running out; he almost knocked me over, actually, but…he told me what, uh…you know; what happened."

Wally smiled truthfully; sure he'd prefer Dick Grayson right now, but Robin was trying his best without sounding too soft.

"Man, you know I'm okay. It was expected, you know-."

"I know someone was to be targeted next, but, trust me, I know how traumatizing that is to see somebody…_like that._"

Grinning, Wally walked past him in the hallway; walking to his room. It wasn't till Wally was actually inside his room standing in front of his metal dresser, surrounded by metal walls, when Robin spoke again.

"It was a man right, a John Doe? What…what did he look like?"

Wally crouched down, pulling the last draw of the five open, pushing shirts aside to find one to wear. He gripped a dark green one, then stood up and threw it on his white sheeted bed. Robin closed the door with a sigh; he knew he wasn't gonna get an answer from the speedster.

Robin watched Wally throw his towel to the metaled floor, snatching black boxers from one of the draws. He watched with narrowing eyes as his friend opened the top draw, lifting up one of the folded jeans in the back; grabbing his crumpled pack of Marlboro's. Wally slid out a cigarette, putting the pack back with ease like muscle memory. He slid the end of the cigarette against the back of his metal cross that hung around his neck, lighting it. The ember ashes danced off the end, flying through the air, but faded before reaching the ground.

"I thought you said you quit."

"I lied."

Wally put the cancer stick to his soft lips, inhaling, and then exhaling; the light smoke curling around his green kaleidoscope eyes. In the light, through the smoke; his friend, with his flaming hair, looked, for the first time, dark.

"Walls I don't-."

"Rob."

It was sign to mute. Wally knew that Robin was well aware of that. He didn't want to talk; he didn't want the ringing of concern in his ears. Closing his eyes, if he listened hard enough, he could hear the soft high keys of the piano. The one his mother used to play, before she quit forever. That was when his mom was happy, when his dad didn't get angry about things he couldn't save. Wally's family is a movie tragedy: once filled with laughter and wit and purity, his very own safe haven. Now, it's a roll of the eyes and blisters on the hands, a constant worry about how they were going to pay the bills, a growing guilt of giving a boy the challenge that his parents couldn't accomplish.

"Wally, listen, you need to understand that what you saw will bring us so much closer to finding the killer."

Sighing, Wally opened his eyes. He took another drag before walking over to his bed and throwing on the shirt, the engine oil grazing without faze. Robin walked over to the metal dresser; slamming the first draw closed and yanking open the one below it; snatching grey sweatpants and throwing them at Wally. He found some black socks too, this time walking over to Wally. He crouched in front of him, putting the socks on his friend's feet. He peeled off his mask, placing it next to Wally's hip. He stood up, leaning forward, grasping Wally's tan freckled face into his moonlight hands.

"KF, please just listen to me: what you _saw_, what me and Artemis _saw_, was not something anyone should ever see. But…you saw more than that; you saw him, you saw the killer."

"He had a mask-."

"That showed his eyes. That showed his lips and his skin color. This is it, Wally, this is the step we've been waiting for."

A knock at the door tore Robin's hands away to grab his mask instead, slapping it on.

"You guy's done hooking up, or what?"

There, in the doorway, stood Artemis Crock. Her long blonde hair, as always, pulled back into a high, thick ponytail. Her silver eyes filled with mischief and the craving for something wild. She had her green uniform on, her hourglass stomach bare; arrows held on her back, bow gripped in her ash tan skin.

Wally bent down quickly, smashing the cigarette on the ground.

Artemis scrunched her nose. "What's that smell?"

He smiles, cunningly. "Nothing, just some chemicals Batman gave me to get the gasoline smell out. Smells like candle smoke doesn't it?"

"And why did you have gasoline on you, along with those really attractive oil stains on your face?" she questioned mockingly.

Robin stared through his mask. "He's been targeted."

"Were you real sacred, Wally? I would've been. I'm sorry you had to see something that, Wally."

M'gann was like a wife; she ran around Wally, giving him food and flipping about things that she didn't have to worry about. Only a year ago, Wally would've been smiling by now. M'gann used to be the one; the one girl he thought was going to be his forever. That was when he was a kid, when a pretty face got his attention instead of a voice. He considerers himself pushing maturity ever since he's had to juggle multiple responsibilities' in a matter of less than 12 months. Now, he stares at only one girl; Artemis. Sure, she was more beautiful than he could ever imagine; the type of beauty that only comes naturally. But, man, it was the way she moved. The way she talked, the way she smiled, the way she laughed. Wally was hopelessly convinced she was his first love. The problem was that they weren't official. Wally had no idea if Artemis felt the same way, hell, if she even remotely liked him.

"Yes, my friend. It must have been quit a scare. Are you alright?" Kaldur asked. His eyes lit up with curiosity, but hid it with his grim mouth. The dark skinned Atlantian was handsome, a model kind of beauty, but he doesn't even notice with his mind that was wired to modestly and a selfless leadership.

Wally shifted on the wood stull in the kitchen. Everyone seemed relaxed; all had changed into their pajamas, even Artemis and Robin. It was raining hard now; a movie was being set up by Robin-a horror movie. Conner, in his same black and red superman shirt but with grey basketball shorts, sat staring out the cave where the sliding door had opened. Wally watched as his strange friend jumped at the thunder, but smiled at the lightning. The bright flashing lights gave Wally a joy also, as if he was receiving a picture of heaven at the worst of the sky's time.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It just scared me, is all." Wally spoke the truth, he was honestly fine, he just kina felt like shit. It also scared hell out of him. What sacred him the most was the fact that Wally had changed things by seeing the killer. What would happen now? Would the killer not care that he saw him, or will he do something as a warning to forget? Wally closed his eyes, forcing the thoughts out of his head. "What are we watching, Rob?" he asked, changing the subject.

"The Conjuring," Artemis answered for him. "You ever see it?"

Wally shook his head. "But I've seen the trailer and stuff, you know."

M'gann handed Wally three hot chocolate mugs, she held the other three. The two walked over to the rest of the team in the handmade fort they had made with pillows and sheets and flashlights surrounded around them.

"Alright," Wally mused, handing one of the mugs to Artemis, who smiled at him beautifully he had noticed. He walked over to Conner, whose hair matched the darkness of the sky but eyes that held the sky when it was its gorgeous reflective blue. "Here ya go." Conner took the mug Wally handed him, but his eyes shifted from Wally, than to the team, than back to him.

"What's wrong, big guy?" Wally knew Conner was smart, but he'd been grown in isolation without any warmth or love. There were still some thing's Wally wanted to fix.

Conner bit his lip. "What…what is gonna happen to us…to M'gann, Kaldur, and I?" he asked with the words that seemed to be below a whisper. He only wanted Wally to hear, that was clear. "The three of us really don't have a secret identity like you guys. Kaldur stays in Atlantis, so does that mean the killer won't target him since he doesn't know he exists outside the team? And M'gann and I, we live here. Will he attack us here, in the safest place any of us have to hide?"

Sighing, Wally sat on the one ledge next to his friend; his green shifting eyes focused on the tastes of heaven. "I don't know, man." He whispered back. "Maybe he stopped with me, maybe the three of you will have to question anyone who looks at you… I don't know. But, I don't want you worry about it, okay? Paranoia is a brave fear, but when you just have fear, that's makes you vulnerable. Okay?"

Conner kept his head down for a few seconds before looking up and sideways into Wally's God gifted eyes, and nodded. "Okay."

Wally smiled, punching Conner in his metal felt arm. He grabbed the handle to the door-sliding it back into the wall, locking on its own, becoming a closed cave wall again. "Come on, let go watch the girls get scared."

Conner smiled, and that made Wally froze, because throughout the time the two have known each other and cared for one another; this was the first smile that seemed like a bit of Conner's heart had poured out with it.

The movie was about an hour in, but that wasn't what Wally was focused on. He studied everyone, everyone he cared about, and kept finding his eyes snapping back to Artemis. The flashlights glow had lightened up her golden hair like the sun, making her face radiant beauty like a star. Her silver eyes reflected off the blue and grey tints of the television set. The black shirt she wore was too big, hanging off her like a child wearing her dad's work shirt. Her shorts hidden under her shirts length as she curled into a ball, leaning her back on the front of the green couch in the back of the floor fort with Wally. They shared a red blanket, her legs hanging carelessly on Wally's thighs. She blinked, her eyelashes expanding like an exotic fan. Her head shifted, looking at him. His iris's fixated on her, his flaming hair looking as if it had caught on fire under the flashlights glow.

"What?" she mouthed, a smile tugging her lips up slightly, like she was trying to hold it in.

"Nothin," He mouthed back, a dimpled grin plastered on his face.

Artemis smiled wider. She shifted closer to him, their hips touching. Her head lay on his chest, his body curling into hers. They fit perfectly, like jagged puzzle pieces finally finding their home.


End file.
